Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-07-02

n9o8SuB ~ WY ~ Ysv0 SOOo8ssn - UuO
Of NE mose artistic On the staaa Within ths
Whish lpe tasleful typogssphy, skilliul prsss.
work, accuracy end esasrsi sxoslionos oS
work manship, have rarely beea squallsd and
never supposed In this city q lsast and
scarcely In The statA Flrse came "Ths Re.
sources and lndustriss OF IIancasess"; then
1.-THE OriHamms = and finally curious ~
tie volume published BY Samuel H. Zsbm 4
Co, and entitled Ertempors on Wagon,
With subtitle explaining that u b "a Met
lioal Narrative Of Journey From Bethle
hem, Pa, 10 the 1ndian Town Of Goshen,
Ohio, In the autumn Of lsG3, BY George
Horny Loakiel, Epixoorus Frstrum." The
book n beautifully made In every respect,
and n fleets great credit upon Mr.. Carson, tho
able foreman If the lNTELLIdENCER Presa,
while Mr.. Roy can be equally proud Of the
binding
Ertempore on a Wagon II going N be %
rare boiOre long ~ II u quaint and curious,
one Of those volumes bO0k hunters end anti.
qusrisns will prise and 10 ON the watch for.
The publishers have only had two hundred
copies printed. and - II 10 not sterootypsd,
when this limited edition is exhausted, - Il
bids fair 10 be much sooner than expected, Il
CSu uOVOs 10 CASCtSy iOhUsuuCOOp 0uu Will III
all probability remain out OF print forever.
Eleven copies, believe. have bsen printed
on large paper, Q veritable edition de iwrc.
The paper Of these few copies 10 hand. .msds,
raw edgos, uncut, and from the same lot -
that on which the special invitations 70 the
Frsnklin and Marshall centennial com.
mencement were printed. This paper 10
over hundred years old, Of the finest text
ure, made Of pure linen, aud delight to the
touch and sight alike IL In . product OF tho
old Ivy Mill that used 10 Atand In Delaware
county, not far from PhilsdolpbtA IL wss
msdo 70 order for the Continental Congress
during the Revolution and about two or
three tons Of II remained stored away In tho
loft OF thS old mill after the latter Was aban.
donsd some fifty years sgo There It wss
mantle the old structure little less than two
years ago, snd, believe, wss disposed OF TO
junk dealer ~ waste- paper. He sold Il to
the firm from whom Mr.. Zahm procured II
and who still have Q remnant Of few hun
little fortune out OF their lucky lind, selling
the bulk OF II at the rate OF ten cents sheet
The eleven copies Of Bishop LoskiSl's Look,
printed on this paper are nOt offered Tor eale,
though l suppose few Of them can ~ had
BY those willing 70 pay enough tor them
The publishers very wisely have left these
unique copies unbound, rightly thinking
that anyone willing to indulge In the luxury
OF owning one OF them will also prefer the
luxury Of putting 1t into . special binding
after his own particular tasto.
A. TO the contents OF Ertempore on a
Wagon, l can do no better than quote from
the translator's Introductory note. "Sevsrsl
years ago." he says, "Mr. Samuel H. Zshm
found, hidden away among . mass Of old
papers, . time-stained little manuscript,
carefully stitched together, and bearing the
peculiar title: Ertempors auf dem Wdgen-
Br. LoskieL 1t was written in . feminine
hand, In clear, even beautiful German script
The discoverer's curiosity being excited, he
instituted . careful research, and traced the
manuscripts back to his great. grandfather,
M. IAhm, but could ind no positive evidence
a. TO how It came into his ancestors posses.
sion. 1t In not unlikely, however, that Il
came into the Zahm family, then members
OF the Moravian church, directly through
Siater Anna Rosa Cor Rosina) Kliest, the
and one Of the three persons whose journey
IL Describes.
"Sr. Klieat seems IN have been Bishop
l.oskiel's diarist and kind Of private secre.
tary on this journey; and tho hand writing
OF the manuscript has been identified - her
own. She probably copied II u, or soon
after, the time Of its composition, from the
original autograph manuscript Of the author,
which IL nov In the poAsession OF Prof.
Abraham BECK, OF Lititz, fa. A comparison
OF the two manuscripts shows them to be OF
apparently the same age, and ST. Kliesrs TO
be an exact verbatim copy OF the original
the only difference being that tho copy is di.
vided into staDzss, which IL not the case
with I.osk isl's original. In the TRANSLATION,
which has bsen made from the former, this
form has also been followed"
Eftemporc on a Wagon above described are
the only copies in existence. Certainly the
following pages contain the only translation
ever made Of the quaint old narrative"
One need not read far In the book TO he
convinced that this translation Of It WAS not
made for the postry's sake; for while here
and there = gleam OF real poetry may bo de-
tected, the most OF It IL nothing but rhymed
and metrical prose, in 10 unfortunstea metre,
too, that not . little OF 1t IL the veIiest dog.
ining the original manuscript, can bear testi.
mony TO the very close and literal accuracy
Of the TRANSLATION. And can easily imagine
that to reproduce faults Of rhyme, rhythm,
and metre 10 about ~ difficult = task ~ TO re-
produce the contents and form OF pure
poetry. Tho temptation must often have
been strong for the translator 70 put . more
poetic sentiment for the old BtshOp's prOaaic
statement, to give spiritual turn TO some OF
his dry descriptions, and otherwise 70 i'm.
prove on the original. For 1t seems to me Il
would have been good deal easier 70 do that
than to stick no closely TO the letter and spirit
of Brother Loskiel's verse. But the transla.
tor apparently resisted oil such temptations
brsvsiy aud successfully, or perhaps it was
no temptation for him ut all
While the historical loot notes give the
reader sufficient explanation Of the references
In the text 70 make him clearly understand
all that is necessary to the enjoyment of the
narrative, there was room for much more OF
Q geographical and archaeological character
In these notes, ifspace and the onjeca Of the
publication had permitted. A. IL 10, there 10
not little very Interesting information given
In the introductory and fOot.noteA
In the Introduction, for example, we sre
given Q concise sketch OF the authors lie,
while the frontispisoe 10 . most excellent
phototype portrait Of him. taken from an old
oil.psinting found In the archives OF the
Morsvisn church at Bethlehem, Pa, and dat
ing from the last century. Bishop L0skiei,
by the way, was the author Of Q number ol
German hymns, some OF which have been
translated into other languages, and have
survived up to the present Several of them
are still In use in the MorAvisn church. Hi
most important literary work, however
was "Ths History OF the Mission of the
United Brethren Among the Indians OF NOrtt
America" which. strange TO say, was writer
before he had ever been In America, and Il
In existence, 10 far ~ 1t gOea 1t u out o
mint. and k,AOOnin0 uuita YarA